The Man in the Moon

Neil Armstrong is a true hero in a world where the
word ‘hero’ is overused, and abused.

I am
of that generation who remembers that Monday in July 1969 like it was yesterday.
Standing in a crowded room with the rest of the senior school watching a black
and white television in the middle of the afternoon. There must have been three
hundred girls in a room that usually held no more than one
hundred.

All
day we had been hearing reports over the school loudspeakers. Then a little
after lunch we were called to the boarder’s sitting room, the only room in the
school with a television.

We
waited and we waited. Much of what we saw on the television was static, and no
one minded. I remember the excitement and anticipation in the room. I think
because we were huddled together like sardines. Some of us standing, others
sitting at the front with their heads turned to look.

My memories of that day
are always of looking to my left with my head craned to look around the heads of
other girls.

With the teachers around the edges not wanting to miss out. I even
remember the look on our usually stern and severe Headmistress’s face as being
the same as that on the rest of those in the room, one of true amazement.

And
then it happened. A figure on the top step going slowly down, before the now
legendary,

“That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.”

Silence in the room and suddenly loud clapping and
amazed looks on the faces of everyone in the room. I remember looking around to
confirm with the others around me that what I had just seen had actually
happened.

And
then the news in the evenings. I remember that our dinner was later than usual
so that we could watch all the news bulletins that night. We usually had dinner
at about 6.30 but that night it was nearer to eight, our mother was not going to
miss out. I doubt that any of us who heard: “The Eagle has landed.” will ever
forget it. Over and over again until it sunk in.

Those
grainy images and the faltering voices are very much a part of my
life.

Before that day, the moon was stuff of fairy tales.

The
Man in the Moon was very real to me. I can still see him there every full moon,
except that since that day his face resembles that of Neil
Armstrong.

That
day changed my life in very important ways. It showed me that fairy tales can
come true. That something as fanciful as walking on the moon can happen has
meant that any of my dreams can come true.

That
day in 1969 changed my life. And the first man to walk on the moon changed my
life. I saw it live and will never forget it.

So,
someone who changed me was Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon in
1969.